Currently reading.

I inherited a few nonfiction books from my grandfather years ago, this among them. I'm finally getting around to reading a couple of them to see what I want to hold on to.
This book added somewhat to my knowledge of the Council of Nicea and its aftermath, of which I really knew nothing. However, it was rather dry and I probably would have been at least as enlightened, if not more, by reading a condensed article. I was interested in the subject! But I guess I like my history humanized a bit, and this didn't work for me. ( )

I skimmed through this very quickly looking for some specific information, but I'd give this three and a half stars based on its general approach and writing style.

The author describes it, in the acknowledgements, as "a work of storytelling and interpretation," and this seems an apt description. If you'd like to know more about how Christianity came to believe that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine (ie, the Arian controversy) with more attention to human history and historical context than to theological subtleties, in a lively rather than dry academic style, this is the book for you. (A fair warning: Christians who think that the theological developments of the early church were pure and unsullied by human venality are in for a sad disillusionment.)

The book is definitely aimed at the general reader and requires no prior knowledge of either the theology or the history of the time. Endnotes provide pointers to the historical and theological details for the more academically oriented reader, citing both primary and secondary sources. And there's a fine map of the "the Roman world in the fourth century" inside the front and back covers that's very helpful in visualizing where all these people were from and where these things were happening.
( )

We all know the story of Jesus' life, his death, his resurrection, and the persecution of his early followers. Less well known is the struggle the early Christians had in deciding whether Jesus was God Himself or the holiest of men, adopted by God and raised to divine rank

Quite interesting look at the Council of Nicea, the opposing factions of early Christianity and the political maneuvering that resulted in the doctrine of Jesus' divinity as opposed to him being just the son of God. Not for light reading, this is a dry read for a casual historian, but it portrays the story behind the events that kept apologists employed trying to explain the trinity. ( )